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Ron then on the video and this past summer in Parksville (sp?), NY

http://www.rlnunley.com/ron_Bob_01.jpg

uh... Ron on the right, of course...,

I think we all might have aged a bit since that video was made, but Kusse is still a great gentleman and a great rodmaker. I've forgotten about it with all the ice storm stuff going on, but he's 75 this month. I need to call him and ask if he feels old yet!

Bob

Holireels wrote:

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That was a neat segment. I wonder if he still enjoys it as much as he did back then.

Yes, he does. I spent a week with Ron this past summer and to this day, when he talks rodmaking or flyfishing, he takes on the look of a kid at Christmas. We spent two days just driving around, him taking me to both famous and obscure fishing spots in the Catskills and telling me stories of the Payne shop, the Leonard shop, his shop, rodmaking in general and flyfishing. As we delved through boxes of his personal memorabilia, I saw pictures of him and his father with Jim Payne, with Ron as only a young teenager, pictures of famous fishermen in famous pools on the Beaverkill and Willewemok, pictures of the Payne Shop, inside and out, before it was turned into a house, pictures of the Leonard Shop before it became a heat and Air place, images of rodmakers and flyfishers that we dream of meeting and talking with. During all of this, there was a look of mysticism and magic in his eyes when he spoke of fishing and bamboo that I've seen in very few others... most will never love the rivers, the rods and the fish the way Ron Kusse does. Understandable... can you imagine having been a teenaged amatuer rodmaker in that era and been able to talk to the hoards of famous rodmakers and flyfishers that inundated the Highland Mills, NY area at the time?

By the way, that basement shop still looks almost identical to what it did 30 years ago. The bamboo he's ready to use is still stored on and behind his heating oil take, the board that he used to hold the rod while he removed string from blank is still the same (not only in the same place, but its the SAME board), the same three lathes still sit in the same place they have for decades. The only thing that's changed for Ron is the cover on the book. He doesn't look as spry and chipper as he once did, but let me assure you, he can still wear you out walking the banks of a river looking for fish, and he can still make a finer fly rod than any of us will ever dream of making. We can say all we want about the new era rodmakers doing better work than has ever been done in bamboo, but if you really believe that, take a trip to Washingtonville, NY and visit a 75 year old master of this craft and SEE perfection in bamboo.

Bob

Did anybody notice that Ron splits his bamboo with a Hunting knife? See, you don't have to spend a fortune for a bamboo froe! Unless, of course, I start selling them... then they will be a tool you can't do without!!!

One thing it didn't show in the video that I wish it had. Mounted on Ron's workbench and still in use after decades of service, is Jim Payne's node press. Jim gave this particular one to Ron when Ron was still very young.

Bob